Brewers Minor League Link Report (3/28): Nashville Kicks Things Off in Style

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• OF Brewer Hicklen, recently DFA'd, was traded to the Detroit Tigers for cash - do you remember the most recent trade with the Tigers?
• OF Garrett Spain had previously been placed on Biloxi's paper roster, but now makes his Milwaukee organizational debut with Nashville after the Hicklen trade
• C Ty Duvall signed as a minor league free agent and placed on Nashville's Development (inactive) List - we introduced you to Duvall here
• RHP Evan McKendry placed on Nashville's Development List 
• The Biloxi, Wisconsin and Carolina rosters are yet to be finalized - the affiliates will provide the formal rosters next Wednesday, perhaps Thursday, prior to their respective Friday April 4th Opening Nights
• Not an official injured list placement (yet), perhaps because he was placed on the Biloxi paper roster for now, but disappointing news here:

We had to wait until the morning of Opening Day, but the Sounds announced their team with a sweet graphic:

Do 16 pitchers seem like a lot? That's how many are on the active roster, you'll see 17 names (McKendry currently not counting on the active). There are 13 position players listed (12 active with Duvall's Development status). The AAA team limit is 28, so the Brewers are in compliance but with a 16/12 mix for now.

Guessing we'll see a bunch of Wes Clarke in the DH spot as both he and Ernesto Martinez, Jr. are worthy of AAA at-bats. That was the case Friday.

My take on the Nashville outfield is that my goodness, a sizable organizational development gap was established in recent years at that position. Among the current AAA group, nary an internal homegrown player. Between them Adam Hall and Garrett Spain have five games at the AAA level. Jared Oliva has 26 games of MLB experience with Pittsburgh, last in 2021, but spent all of 2024 at the AA level in Seattle's system. Jimmy Herron is coming off the majority of his last three years having played at AAA Albuquerque in the Rockies' chain. It should be a perfectly serviceable group, but it's certainly not prospect-laden or all that intriguing at the moment.

Here's a bonus for you, although the conversation was more in general "AAA" terms than player-specific, but here's Voice of the Sounds Jeff Hem's Friday interview with Nashville's 102.5 The Game radio.

Nashville Pre-Game Media Notes - Not available online for Opening Night

Final: Nashville 7, Jacksonville (Marlins) 1 

Box Score and Game Log

Via the Sounds’ website, game details, and we always encourage readers to review affiliate write-ups as part of their Link Report routine:

Carlos Rodriguez Fans Seven in Sounds Opening Night Win - Sounds Swipe Five Bases on Opening Night Victory

Have to love the bonus "notes" portion that dovetails every Nashville game summary.

Here's a reminder - every day we'll have a thread pinned at the top of our Minor League Forum with "as it happens" reactions and insights from multiple contributors. You'll pick up quite a bit of additional info here regarding Friday's opener.

As for the Nashville leadoff hitter, we have these for you:

Longtime Guardians' infielder Raynel Delgado doesn't turn 25 years old until next week. He opened eyes during his big-league camp game appearances. His relative youth and overall profile make him a very intriguing player to follow. Early prediction - Delgado will see MLB time with the Crew this year, based on much more than his double and two singles in this game.

I will admit that I am not the first to turn to Statcast or Savant to break down every nuance of player performances - those charts make these senior citizen eyes dizzy, to be honest. Thankfully, we have forum posters who link to such data focusing on starter Carlos Rodriguez. Wondering about his namesake and former teammate OF Carlos D. Rodriguez? He is still on Atlanta's 40-man roster but is awaiting formal placement and is not on the Braves' AAA roster at this time.

As for Carlos F., this was certainly an encouraging start to 2025. He had an 8.03 ERA last April.

RHP Deivi Garcia with a one-inning outing? Likely related to the 16-man staff.

You'll find additional video highlights via the Nashville "X" feed.

My movie theater couch experience thanks to MiLB.TV - we're back, baby!

Saturday's game is at 6:35 Central, with RHP Logan Henderson on the mound. With a big-league matinee, you have no excuse to miss out!

Interested in learning more about the Milwaukee Brewers' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!